


A Game Made for Two

by AlyKat



Series: Falling [4]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 10:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5160848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyKat/pseuds/AlyKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose hasn’t ever really been known as the type to spontaneously take a trip, but when a rare three-day-weekend cropped up for her she knew exactly what to do and where to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Game Made for Two

Rose glanced at the strip of paper clutched tightly in her hand one more time before turning her eyes back to the foreign campus in front of her. It had begun to snow in earnest shortly after she caught a taxi at the train station and the buildings and grounds of the University of Edinburgh were beginning to look, well, a lot like Christmas, honestly. Though as pretty as it was, Rose was still hopelessly lost in trying to find John’s dormitory. According to Donna – whom Rose had had lunch with earlier in the week and learned through her that John was stuck at school all weekend – he didn’t rent a flat like many of the other graduate students, and instead lived in a dorm not far from the science building.

Wherever the science building was.

After several wrong turns and a few mixed up directions from students, Rose finally found herself standing in the lobby of John’s building, the snow melting off her shoulders and knit cap as she waited for him to come down to sign her in. No one gave her even so much as a passing glance, they simply rushed past her, chattering on to their mates or with their noses buried in  books or notes. Finally, the heavy door to Rose’s left burst open and John’s lanky form stumbled out of the stairway, skidding to a stop less than a foot away from her.

His chestnut hair stuck up in all directions, as if he’d been running his fingers through it and tugging at it in frustration, and his chocolate brown eyes were wide behind his glasses as he stared at her in disbelief. “Rose!”

Laughing softly to herself, Rose bit at her bottom lip as she smiled and swayed side to side absently. She didn’t have time to respond before John was pulling her in for a tight hug, lifting her feet a good four inches off the ground in his enthusiasm.

“What are you doing here?” questioned John as he set her feet back down on the floor.

“My own three day weekend,” answered Rose. “So I thought I’d come up to visit you for a change. Is that alright? You’re not busy or anything?”

John rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly for a moment as he glanced back at the stairway. “Uhhh…”

Rose’s face fell and she stepped back, already mentally railing herself for coming up unannounced. She wasn’t ever much one to do things spontaneously, but this had seemed like such a good idea at the time, and she had wanted to surprise him and spend more time with him, but now…

“Sorry. Right, I should have called first, or something. I–”

“No!” John jumped forward, catching Rose by the arm before she could turn away. “No, it’s not that. I…well, I mean, I do have things I need to work on to have ready for next week, but, nothing says I can’t work on them and be with you at the same time, yeah?”

John’s fingers entwined with Rose’s, his palm slightly cooler against her own. Rose glanced down briefly, just to take in how perfectly their hands fit together, before lifting her eyes to meet his. All the bright hopefulness shining back at her nearly stole her breath away.

“Yeah?”

Smiling a bit brighter, John nodded and turned to tug her towards the stairs. “Yeah. C’mon! It’s drafty down here!”

* * *

 

Standing just inside the door to John’s room, Rose fought back the urge to burst out laughing at the sight. Organized chaos, was what came to mind as she looked at the piles and stacks of books, trinkets, and clothes scattered everywhere. A bleedin’ mess, is what her mum would have called it. John scurried around the crowded room, grabbing up clothes to shove haphazardly into his wardrobe and kicking empty takeaway containers under his bed as best he could, apologizing the whole time.

“Don’t get many people visiting me, except for Donna, occasionally. Well, and a few people from class, I suppose. But, other than that. I usually keep it a bit neater than this! Hold on!”

Rose finally lost the fight and broke out giggling as John gathered up all the books and gadgets that were on his bed and tossed them into a corner that was already overflowing with laundry. As John stepped back and waved to the now cleared bed with a flourish, Rose stepped the rest of the way into the room and let the door click shut behind her.

“Need a maid in here,” she teased.

John simply flushed and shrugged as he dropped himself back down into his desk chair. “Nah. Just need more space. I’m on a waiting list for a proper house on campus, a graduate’s dwelling, but at the rate things are going, I’ll be done and gone by the time my name reaches the top of the list. Anyway, make yourself at home! There’s pop in the cooler over there, and if you’re hungry we can hop on down to the cafeteria for a bite? They should still be open, I think.”

Dropping her bag to the floor, Rose settled herself in the center of John’s bed and simply grinned. He looked so flustered and adorable sitting there in his brown flannel pyjama bottoms and wrinkled grey t-shirt. “ ‘M good for now, thanks,” she answered before leaning back against the wall behind her and sticking her legs straight out in front of her. “So, what are you working on, anyway?”

“Oh,” John blinked quickly and glanced at his laptop before looking back to Rose, “uh…well, I have to do a lecture next week on the string theory. So, I’ve just been trying to get my notes in order and create an interesting slide-show, throw in my own theories and thoughts on how time and space interact with each other. And I have to continue my research for my doctoral dissertation, but I needed a break from that anyway.”

“What’s it on? Your dissertation, I mean.”

“Black holes and whether or not they’re really the key to traveling through to other universes.”

Rose blinked in surprise. When Donna had told Rose John was a right genius, Rose hadn’t really believed her. She’d known John was clever, she had figured that out the first night she’d spent time with him, but this was far above her expectations.

“And?” She asked, leaning forward on her elbows. “Are they?”

“Are they what?” Answered John as he scrunched his face in confusion.

Laughing, Rose tucked her feet under herself and shrugged. “Are black holes the key to traveling to another universe?”

“Oh!” Exclaimed John. He sat up straighter in his chair and pulled his laptop over to him. “Well, right now there’s no conclusive evidence to suggest that they are, but there’s also no solid evidence that says otherwise. Here.” John rolled his chair closer to the bed and turned so Rose could see the screen with him. “I’ll read you what I have so far.”

Rose grinned and scooted until she was sitting next to John’s shoulder and could read along with what he was saying.

They spent much of the rest of the day like that, John reading to her from his dissertation and practicing his lecture on her, and Rose nodding along, trying to keep up, and asking questions along the way. When dusk began to fall, they took a break long enough to stock up on food and drinks before settling in to watch a movie – John’s choice of the live action Three Musketeers, which Rose wasn’t going to object to, because what girl in her right mind would object to a movie starring Chris O’Donnell and Kiefer Sutherland?

The movie marathon continued (even while John turned most of his attention back to his work) when Rose picked The Princess Bride, followed by Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Which, much to Rose’s amusement and John’s extreme embarrassment when he’d been found out, John was able to quote right along with each movie they had on – whether he was paying attention to them or not.

It wasn’t until part way through John’s choice of movie – Casper, since he’d seen it enough times that he could work to it and not be distracted by it – that he realized just how quiet it had gotten in his room again. Leaning back in his chair to stretch, he cast a glance over his shoulder and paused. Curled up on her side, face burrowed into his pillow, was Rose, fast asleep. A small, soft smile tugged at the corner of John’s mouth as he quietly set about shutting his laptop down and turned his desk lamp off before crawling up onto the bed beside her. Instantly, Rose snuggled into his side and used his chest for a pillow as she continued dreaming on.

Flickering dimly across the room, the little ghost named Casper looked down on his new friend sleeping peacefully in what had once been his bed. “ _Kat? Can I keep you_?”

The line tugged at John’s chest as he looked down at Rose and gently brushed her golden hair from her face. For the first time in more years than he’d care to admit to, John found himself hoping for that same thing. To keep Rose for himself.


End file.
